REPOST: Symmetrical Paper and Clay Butterflies

It's been a long summer here in New Hampshire--my kiddos have been on break since June 10th and don't start school again until September 8th--WOW! So, the long and lazy days of summer need some crafting with mom time. Here's a butterfly that Little Miss did today. This is a post from back in September of 2012, but it's a good one--very fun (and shhh....educational too!). ENJOY!

And here's the original post:

Do you know some students who are studying butterflies? This is a great project for children in Kindergarten and elementary school. You can work in so many great concepts with this project: parts of an insect, symmetry, pattern, and more.

I started by having my students cut out the wings and design them and then I walked them through the making of the butterfly body. We finished up by adding the details such as antennae and legs. I really enjoyed this project because it taught science and art concepts, but it also because it allowed the students some self expression; a win/win in my book!

Clay Butterfly With Paper Wings

Supplies Needed:

• One 6" x 9" piece of construction paper for the wings (light color)
• Pencil with eraser
• Scissors
• Assorted markers
• Model Magic by Crayola (about the size of a chicken egg), whatever color you want
• 3 pipe cleaners (chenille stems), whatever color you want

Directions:

1. Fold the construction paper in half the short way (hamburger or taco fold).

2. Arrange the construction paper so the fold is on the left. Draw a capital letter "B" on the paper extending it so the top and bottom of the "B" touch the top and bottom of the paper.

3. Cut out the "B" shape, but don't cut the middle line (in between the upper and bottom bumps). Write your name on the paper and open it up so your name is face down. These are your butterfly wings.

4. Decorate the wings with whatever designs you would like: big dots, little dots, lines, etc. I showed a couple of butterfly books to the children before they started drawing. I asked them to make their designs symmetrical, or the same on both wings.

5. I then gave each child a ball of Model Magic the size of a chicken egg. I had them pull off a piece and roll it into a 3/4-1" ball. This is the butterfly's head. Place this ball of dough at the top of your butterfly's wings and press down slightly.

6. Divide the remainder of the dough in half (two equal parts). Form he first into a ball. This is the thorax for your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's head on the wings and press down slightly.

7. Roll the remainder of the dough into a hot dog shape about 3" long or so. This is the abdomen of your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's thorax on the wings and press down slightly.

8. Use scissors to cut each pipe cleaner into three equal sections. Poke 2 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's head as his antennae. Wrap another pipe cleaner piece into a coil and poke it into the head for the butterfly's proboscis.

9. Poke the remaining 6 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's thorax (3 on one side, 3 on the other). These are the butterfly's legs.

You're done! Enjoy your colorful butterfly!

Clay and Paper Butterflies

Do you know some students who are studying butterflies? This is a great project for children in Kindergarten and elementary school. You can work in so many great concepts with this project: parts of an insect, symmetry, pattern, and more.

I started by having my students cut out the wings and design them and then I walked them through the making of the butterfly body. We finished up by adding the details such as antennae and legs. I really enjoyed this project because it taught science and art concepts, but it also because it allowed the students some self expression; a win/win in my book!

Clay Butterfly With Paper Wings

Supplies Needed:

• One 6" x 9" piece of construction paper for the wings (light color)
• Pencil with eraser
• Scissors
• Assorted markers
• Model Magic by Crayola (about the size of a chicken egg), whatever color you want
• 3 pipe cleaners (chenille stems), whatever color you want

Directions:

1. Fold the construction paper in half the short way (hamburger or taco fold).

2. Arrange the construction paper so the fold is on the left. Draw a capital letter "B" on the paper extending it so the top and bottom of the "B" touch the top and bottom of the paper.

3. Cut out the "B" shape, but don't cut the middle line (in between the upper and bottom bumps). Write your name on the paper and open it up so your name is face down. These are your butterfly wings.

4. Decorate the wings with whatever designs you would like: big dots, little dots, lines, etc. I showed a couple of butterfly books to the children before they started drawing. I asked them to make their designs symmetrical, or the same on both wings.

5. I then gave each child a ball of Model Magic the size of a chicken egg. I had them pull off a piece and roll it into a 3/4-1" ball. This is the butterfly's head. Place this ball of dough at the top of your butterfly's wings and press down slightly.

6. Divide the remainder of the dough in half (two equal parts). Form he first into a ball. This is the thorax for your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's head on the wings and press down slightly.

7. Roll the remainder of the dough into a hot dog shape about 3" long or so. This is the abdomen of your butterfly. Place this ball of dough below your butterfly's thorax on the wings and press down slightly.

8. Use scissors to cut each pipe cleaner into three equal sections. Poke 2 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's head as his antennae. Wrap another pipe cleaner piece into a coil and poke it into the head for the butterfly's proboscis.

9. Poke the remaining 6 pipe cleaner pieces into the butterfly's thorax (3 on one side, 3 on the other). These are the butterfly's legs.

You're done! Enjoy your colorful butterfly!

Sketchbooks and Drawing From Life

In today's lesson, I discussed with one of my students how important it is for an artist to have a sketchbook. While this may cause many to say, "Well, duh!" Often sketchbooks aren't used to their fullest potential!

Bumblebee with observations

All of my children from age 2 to age 10 have sketchbooks. Many are on their fourth sketchbook! I buy inexpensive ones from the craft store that are wire bound so they can lay flat and I keep them handy so that my children can grab them when inspiration strikes. Get the heaviest-weight paper possible so you can use a variety of media on the pages.

For today's lesson, I discussed how a sketchbook doesn't have to be a pristine, finished book of lovely, complete, drawings. I prefer to use a sketchbook as a journal. My sketchbook is a place where I can practice techniques and get my ideas out. This morning, my student and I were able to draw from nature: I had found a bumblebee and a butterfly that had died, but were still intact and we went outside (in the shade) to observe and sketch them. It was a wonderful way to really check out the details of insects that we would never have been able to observe "in the wild."

Drawing the bumblebee--we really needed to pick up the subject
and look closely at it to see all of that detail!

After drawing the bee and butterfly, we wrote down details we observed while drawing, such as:

• Bees have two sets of wings
• Bumblebees are fuzzy (the yellow fuzzy part has black undertones)
• We couldn't see any pointy stinger, but the abdomen did come to a point
• The abdomen of the bee was striped, but not yellow and black like a honeybee or the usual depiction of a bee, this bee's stripes were grey and black
• The bees eyes were hard to see at first, but then we looked really hard and we saw them

These observations were written directly onto the paper near the drawing, or you could use the backside of the drawing or another page to write your observations in your journal.

Drawing the Monarch Butterfly--It was great to see all of the detail in the markings--
I never knew they had all of those little spots on their wings!

Other things that go well in a journal-type sketchbook:

• Postcards or clipping of art or photos you enjoy for future inspiration
• Swatches of colors used in drawings and paintings (I do a little blob or scribble of color and label the color name so I know which one to choose the next time I go to work on a piece).
• Sketches of different views of the same subject
• Websites and books I want to check out (and my notes once I do)
• Inspiring quotes and interesting thoughts

Keeping a visual journal is an important part of your development as an artist. Looking back on the pages will inspire you and show your artistic growth. Keep it fun and keep adding to it as you like, an art journal is also very portable--bring it with you on vacation or leave it in the car for those moments when you are waiting to pick the kids up from camp. Have fun, there is no "wrong way" to create an art journal!

Origami Butterfly Wreath for Easter or Spring

My family loves origami! So when I saw the directions for an origami butterfly on Pinterest, I knew I had to create a project that used them! So, here 'tis! This is a relatively simple and VERY inexpensive project that would be suitable for children grade 2 and up (the origami may be a bit challenging for a young one and the tissue paper can be time consuming).

The butterfly origami directions are from Go Origami. Many of the gorgeous projects on this site are too advanced for me, but the butterfly is easy enough.

Enjoy making this lovely wreath and bringing a bit of Spring into your home!

Origami Butterfly Wreath for Easter or Spring

Supplies Needed:

• One paper plate
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Elmer's glue
• Glue tray (I used the lid of a yogurt tub)
• Tissue paper in green (I used three colors of green for interest)
• Three pieces of origami paper (or thin colored paper), assorted colors
• Hole punch
• Ribbon

Directions:

1. Trace a 5" circle in the center of the paper plate. Use the scissors to poke a hole in the center circle and then cut and remove the center circle so you are left with an outer ring of a paper plate. This is the base of your wreath.

2. Cut the tissue paper into 1" squares. I can't tell you how many squares you'll need, but you'll probably end up cutting WAY more than you need.

3. Pour a bit of glue into the tray. Take a 1" square of tissue paper and CENTER it over the eraser end of the pencil, smoothing the edges of the tissue paper around the eraser and pencil. Use your fingertips to HOLD the tissue in place and then dip the covered end of the eraser into the glue. Gently touch the tissue-covered eraser to the plate, and remove the pencil. The tuft of tissue paper should remain. You'll be attaching the tufts of tissue paper to the underside of the plate--not the side you'd eat on.

4. Repeat with additional tissue paper squares until the surface of the plate ring is covered. It helps to place the tissue paper tufts next to each other as you go--this will ensure that the wreath is nice and full and doesn't have any bald spots! If you are working with a younger child, you can work with him/her on this part. Many children won't mind the help and it's a wonderful time to sit and chat quietly with your child. 

5. Once the front surface of the wreath ring is covered with tissue paper tufts, use a hole punch to make two holes about 5" apart on the top edge of the wreath. This will allow you to hang the wreath up later. Set the wreath aside to dry.

6. Trim the origami paper so that one piece is 6 inches square, another is five inches square, and the third is four inches square. Fold into butterflies. Directions can be found here.

7. Attach ribbon to the wreath. Trim if necessary.

8. Use glue to attach butterflies in a pleasing arrangement. 

You're done! Welcome Spring!

**Another option to make this much easier for little ones is to reduce the size of the plate wreath. Making the wreath ring 5-6" across will be much easier for a single child to do on his/her own. Then adjust the size of the butterflies accordingly, maybe a butterfly made from a 5" square flanked by butterflies made from 4" squares.